Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Capital Region was the 35th house to open its doors in June of 1982, since then they’ve been committed to providing a “home away from home” for families with ill children. They provide these families with a private bedroom and access to a kitchen, family room, computer, laundry and offer a shuttle service to the hospital.

Besides assisting families with ill children, the RMCH of the Capital Region offers a variety of programs including the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile which addresses the restorative dental needs of children in the area. As the family member of someone who has used this organization I was more than excited when they enlisted us to work on their website.

The RMHC already had a logo that was recognized worldwide, so in the redesign and redevelopment of the website Overit sought to produce a website that would complement the good work and good vibes that people already associate with.

Now that the the website has relaunched, Overit Media will implement SEO (search engine optimization) best-practices in order to make sure that their website gets the full attention of search engines and potential visitors.  Our resident SEO guru, Joe Schaefer has created a plan to ensured the website is easily indexed and found in search results.

RMHC has a Facebook page that people can become fans of, stop by and say some nice words to them. We can’t say enough good things about Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Capital Region and we encourage you to check out their website at: http://rmhcofalbany.org

Short answer: Yes. See our blog entry about here.

What is Personalized Search (Google)?

Personalized search is the return of search results that are tailored just for you, based on your search behavior.

For a while there we saw the ability in all of us, who had one Google account or another , to personally rank sites by clicking an ‘up’ or ‘down’ arrow. And, from there, your search results started being customized based on your perceived likes, dislikes and the ability to personally remove a result from the SERPs.

Earlier this month we saw Google announce that personalized search is now a reality for all of us, whether signed in to Google or not.

But How Do I Know If My Results Are Personalized?

** See the big red arrow pointing to ‘View Customizations’. This is your tell-tale sign that your results are based on an addition to the algorithm, the personalized version of search results. Here, too, you are able to move further into the Google results and ask that Google show you results not based on customizations (or in their case of positive-spin-language ‘without improvements’).

What Does This Mean For My Site?

Probably little to nothing if you’ve been focusing on your SEO. I can hear the comments now: ‘Yeah, but my SEO tells me that success is based on rank. But, if my audience is getting different results, then rank won’t be a good measure’. You’re right. Rank as a top metric for measuring success has come to a skidding, crunching halt.

SEO companies (like Overit Media) will continue to focus on using search engines for traffic (as well as other means), so your site isn’t headed for the depths of page 10 of search results. Keep an eye on traffic, if you start seeing a trend downward, personalized search may be having an effect. If you see that steady incline still, personalized search may be doing nothing, or perhaps, helping.

So, as an SEO company, we trudge forward knowing that traffic, time on site and bounce rate are still aspects to look at. And, since we sit on the edge of our seats while analyzing, measuring and testing, we also sit close to the edge of everything that is search related - for our clients’ success.

On the lush eastern coast of Maui, at the end of the Hana Highway, is the legendary Hotel Hana-Maui and Honua Spa. There, tranquility is a way of life and the blend of true Hawaii and leisurely amenities reflect the celebrated Hawaiian heritage and its natural beauty.

Earlier this year, a few from the Overit Media team flew to Maui for a two-week photo shoot. Since then, the newly designed website went from research to planning to designing to development to testing to launch.

Our commitment to open and frequent communication and a dazzling end-result is self-evident with the relaunch of www.hotelhanamaui.com.

A “But Why?” Example

With the untimely passing of music icon Michael Jackson, it took Twitter an instant to have news updates showing up in their search results, but comparatively, in major search engine time-lines, it took Google much too long to start showing results. If we noticed this, no doubt, so did Google.

A brief history search, most recently, shows that Yahoo! merged with MSN (now called Bing), Facebook has been implementing real-time search technologies and the most unlikely candidate in real-time search, Twitter, is probably at the forefront of real-time search. This might be making Google go a little goofy.

Google also has roughly 70% of the market of search, so possibly in response, they are rolling out algorithmic changes. Being synonymous with ’search’ (as in, “Go Google it!”), Google will refuse to slip behind in the search race, rather, Google will make every effort to remain on top, if not try to crush the competition even more.

In order to do so, Google is in the process of changing.

What Does That Mean for Me and My Website?

Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. How’s that for a researched, scientific answer? The truth is, we don’t know yet. Some possible scenarios may play like so: It could mean drastic changes in traffic and ranking. It might not, but it could; either negatively or positively. In other words, if you rank well and get healthy amounts of traffic because of your rank and inclusion, be aware you might slip. Then again, the Google changes might have the opposite effect and raise your rankings – or neither.

Get To The Point

While keeping a close eye on upcoming changes, reports and industry chatter, we will be working overtime to make changes where necessary in order to keep relevant traffic flowing to your site. We might hit some bumps in the road, but we’ll help smooth them out because we like to play in traffic so you don’t have to.

Founded in January, 2008, Arden Grove Hospitality will specialize in operating super-luxury hotels and resorts. Because of the Company’s belief in highly personalized service, the size of the properties will typically be less than 100 rooms with the very best in facilities, amenities and services that are expected by today’s discerning clientele. Commitment to quality is the essential component in our future developments and our team will always be diligent in seeking the most creative ways to exceed guest expectations at a very personal level.

Visit Arden Grove Hospitality.

Thanks for asking. By the end of this article, the analogy grenade will have gone off and you’ll have an “Ah, yeah” moment.

Well-done, search-friendly web design needs to be reinforced as (a) many clients are unaware of the importance when seeking an agency and (b) there are many designers and agencies out there who don’t subscribe to the practice of melding the two together.

An analogy, such as the one you are about to experience, no matter how immature it may seem, will hopefully make things clearer and easier to “stomach” in the end.

Now, there is no technical, direct comparison of good, search-friendly web design & development to Lucky Charms, only those of the indirect kind. But, they beg to be made for argument’s sake, insight and a little fun.

Let’s get to it.

FIRST, WHY BE SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY?

I like to think of building a website to be somewhat akin to erecting a fancy billboard out in the middle of nowhere. Forget the Kevin Costner movie where the spirits say “build it and they will come.” The Internet landscape, as magical as it can seem, doesn’t quite work like that.

A reason being, a huge percentage of Internet users start their sessions from a search engine. Most likely they return to their search engine of choice before finishing up what they sat at the keyboard to do in the first place.

That billboard you built in the middle of nowhere will most likely remain the middle of Internet nowhere, unless of course, your designers, developers and SEO people work in concert with your goals to begin with. That is not to say things can’t be fixed, but it’s a safe bet to make that one should launch a site that is search engine friendly to begin with, instead of applying slow-acting bandaids or worse yet, starting from scratch.

Being search engine friendly helps visitors find you. Being search engine friendly helps build and populate roads that run past your billboard. That way, your message gets seen. That was the point, right?

HEY, WHAT ABOUT THE LUCKY CHARMS?

Lucky Charms? Okay, here we go. Stay with me.

General Mills has been feeding hungry kids (and adult children) for decades with some sweet treats in the morning. We know them as breakfast cereals. They “nice them up” by expounding how good for you they are—something like 12 VITAMINS AND MINERALS. With all of that, it must be a healthy addition to any morning routine. Just in case that didn’t get mom and dad to pour bowl after hearty bowl of the good stuff, an endearing character and bright colors to dazzle the eyes and minds of children fills their psyches to no end. Yum.

Little does the packaging do to explain about all the sugars and additives that fill each unhealthy morsel. Again, yum.

Lucky Charms is one such breakfast meal. Let us use the adult child as our example. The ‘charms’ have enough fuel to rocket you into hyperspace, or at least until the lunchtime crash. Tiny bits of colorless oat (ooh, look, they are healthy!) are surrounded in the bowl by sugary powderpuff marshmallow bits in colorful shapes: clovers, pots of gold, stars, hearts, horseshoes, moons, rainbows and balloons.

You fill your bowl carefully, not spilling (and if you do, you eat the colorful sugary ones and knock the oats to the floor, only to be swept under the rug) and then generously add your wholesome milk.

You’re certainly welcome to make your own comparisons (and leave them as comments below), but hear me out as I make my own. See if you agree.

Some designers and agencies are quick to deliver flashy, colorful, chock-full of wow websites. They ‘nice them up’ and sell you every reason why the site is world-class. They might even give you a list of reasons why it is the greatest thing since the inception of your Internet slice of bread. This my friends, is the bowl of Lucky Charms. You know you want the site. You’ve wanted it badly for a long time. The designers knocked you dead with the sugary sweetness of it’s appearance and provided 12 reasons why it smacks of goodness. It rockets you into hyperspace through all the excitement, but, like the Charms themselves, you’ll eventually crash.

WHY?

Unless your site was designed and developed with search engine friendly best-practices, you’ve essentially purchased a nice looking billboard and erected it in an empty field. Do you hear the crickets? I do.

MORAL OF THE STORY PART 1

Let the possibly contrived list of healthy reasons why the website is the cat’s meow fall right off the table. The colorful bits of cool and excitement over take and this is the website to beat all websites. Right? Wrong.

Moral: Better to be savvy than sorry

Don’t forsake the reason why you wanted a website in the first place just for the wow factor. In fact, you can have a wow factor and still find success on the Internet. How? Read on.

GOOD WEB DESIGN AND SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION)

If you’re even slightly Internet savvy you’ve probably heard of SEO (search engine optimization) as a great marketing tool. And, it is. However, SEO isn’t relegated to the marketing department alone. In fact, web design and development are serious contenders in the process of optimizing a site from the ground up.

Traffic (and in many cases high volumes of traffic) can easily be lost without a search friendly design.

Poorly constructed sites (including design, navigation, usability and poor development coding) can work against you in regards to search engine inclusion and visitor usability.

If your website is not being found in search results, your missing an enormous chunk of your possible target audience.

MORAL OF THE STORY Part 2

Some research indicates that there are designers and agencies who (a) don’t know what SEO is and (b) some don’t think optimization is a part of the design & development process.

Moral: A bunch of baloney might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.

SOME VITAL VITAMINS & MINERALS FOR WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
(Search-friendly Web design & development tidbits)

CLEAN THE CODE PIPES

A cleanly coded and structured website will work wonders for you when it comes to search engine spiders. They will have an easier time crawling your site and will probably be able to crawl it quickly and comprehensively so as to not stop short of indexing as many pages as possible.

HOME PAGE

Since search engines gravitate to the homepage first and then follow links from the homepage to crawl deeper into the site, make sure that (a) your linking structure is presented and coded in a way that the search engines can understand. While some of the big players in the search game are getting better at reading flash, continue to consider them as a text-based spider. When it comes to navigation, are any of the interior pages further than 3 clicks away from the homepage? If so, ask your design/developer why and how he/she intends to have those deep pages indexed initially, especially without inbound links pointing to those pages at or around launch.

SITEMAP

Does your site have both an HTML and XML sitemap? Hope so, for usability and search engine friendliness.

HOLDING THE VISITOR’S HAND

A clean, crisp, well-designed page should guide the user in a certain sequence of viewing events so as to drive both the message and the experience of the site in a certain direction. Design elements on a site are carefully placed in order to convey information and usability. When done correctly the site design should be both ’sticky’ and further navigation essential & encouraged.

FULL-FLASH SITES

Of course, a full-flash site has historically been a no-no when considering SEO. A good developer should be able to explain how a flash site, theoretically, can be indexed. But, it might be about time that full-flash sites get hip to the fact that Google and the like are getting hip to alt sites. While creating and directing an engine to an alt site for spidering seems like a viable route to take, a trend is to realize that Google realizes there are essentially two versions of the site. This may send up a little red flag with the search engines, even if the content is essentially the same.

KEEP IT CLEAN!

The design should be clean, simple, organized and optimized. Look at headings, alt tags, meta descriptions, title tags and content. Learn a little about on-page optimization and see that your designer and developer are focusing attention on these items.

ANTIQUATED ANCHOR TEXT

Through design and development, use descriptive, varied keywords as your anchor text rather than the wildly out-dated ‘click here’.

FLASH MENUS & AJAX-DRIVEN NAVIGATION

The search engines won’t follow your flash menus or Ajax-driven navigation unless you provide an alternative for them. Is your developer/designer preparing for this?

SPLASH

Is your splash page holding your site back from being included in the search engine index? Ask your designer / developer for examples of how he/she intends to remedy this potential wall.

So, no ill will towards Lucky Charms, I like them. Do yourself a service and leave them at home and leave behind the bells and whistles of web design and development unless they are meaningful, utilitarian and search engine friendly.

~ Joe Schaefer heads up Internet Marketing efforts at Overit Media.

Designed by Overit Media, the site is as visually effective as the shopping experience. The crisp white background lets the product do the talking. Mohawkpaperstore’s homepage carousel showcases featured promotions and news from Mohawk. The simple, intuitive navigation, faster loading time and convenient search tools make mohawkpaperstore.com easy enough for anyone to use … and use again.

The historic Altamont Fair is a three county fair representing Albany, Schenectady and Greene Counties. It is a non-profit, public educational and historical society supported entirely by admissions, rentals, contributions and the assistance of hundreds of volunteers.

The Adirondack Mountains, steeped in history, majesty and beauty, are home to Lake Placid Lodge. Billed as a luxury hotel & resort, Lake Placid Lodge combines Adirondack artisan flavors with elegance and luxurious service.

Overit Media redesigned the website, having designed and developed their temp site, based on the majestic feel of the Lodge, and mirrors the opulence that awaits anyone who plans a stay at the Lodge.

Visit the Lake Placid Lodge website.

To view images  of the site, click the thumbnails below and an image window will open.

With stores located in Hudson, NY and Catskill, NY, store owners  Jim Deskevich and Corbett Marshall make all of their products by hand. Building on their design sense and background, Overit Media delivered a custom blog that mirrors the quality and uniqueness of Variegated’s hand made bedding & more. All are to be savored, not just put to bed.

Experience Variegated.

Click below to view an image of the new site.